Thursday, October 02, 2008

A Campaign based on Identity

It's becoming increasingly clear that Republicans, faced with Palin's utter lack of qualifications to be president, are turning more and more towards Palin's character as a sufficient qualification in of itself.

Sure, you'd come up with one. There's Kelo. My mind would then wander to "that child-rape case." Then, before digging deeper into history during these split-second deliberations, would realize I may not want to say "that child-rape case" on the national TV. And, then, decide: "I just am not going to play Katie's quiz-show game."

First of all, Couric didn't ask Palin about a decision she disagreed with, she asked her if she could name any at all, besides Roe. Second of all, even if she couldn't remember the actual names she could certainly have talked about some of the recent cases and their implications. Third, note how K-Lo describes this, as "Katie's quiz-show game". Palin is running for Vice President of the United States. If McCain wins, he has a 1 in 4 chance of not making it to 2012, which means Palin takes over, becomes president, and takes on all the duties of nominating judges. Palin could reshape the Supreme Court for a generation. Couric asked Palin if she could name even a single SCOTUS case besides the infamous Roe v Wade. She couldn't. And K-Lo calls that a "quiz-show game".

Don't get me wrong, a candidate's character is important. But it also helps to have a candidate who, you know, actually knows something about what they'll have to do if they actually win.